Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, October 21, 2019
Shalom *|FNAME|*,
Dan Juster wrote an article earlier this month titled “The Five Pillars of Escatology.” I hope you’ll read the article. Here is the link to it. https://tikkun.tv/the-five-pillars-eschatology/
Week 43
Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I also passed on to you first of all what I also received— that Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
211 10/21 Monday: 1 Corinthians 15-16
212 10/22 Tuesday: 2 Corinthians 1-2
213 10/23 Wednesday: 2 Corinthians 3-4
214 10/24 Thursday: 2 Corinthians 5-6
215 10/25 Friday: 2 Corinthians 7-8
Question of the day: 1 Corinthians 15:51 was made into a sign and put on the nursery wall. “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Now there’s a good example of taking a verse out of context.
Back to the question of the day… Why does Paul put such an emphasis on the resurrection of Yeshua?
Answer: His life is defined by His resurrection. Without His resurrection, we have no resurrection. And if we have no resurrection, there is no hope. 1 Corinthians 15 (the whole chapter) is all about the resurrection.
Paul asks the real question of the day… 1 Corinthians 15:12b how can some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Two verses later Paul makes this crystal clear… 1 Corinthians 15:14 …if Messiah has not been raised, then our proclaiming is meaningless and your faith also is meaningless.
There is the choice, either Yeshua has been resurrected or we have meaningless faith. This reminds me of some Jewish people who arrogantly proclaim they are able to receive Yeshua as savior, but not as God.
Folks, that’s not an option. He either is who He says He is, or He is a lunatic Who must not be followed. Who did He say that He is?
Yeshua spoke to the Jews of His day. They understood what He was saying and hated Him for it. John 5:17 But Yeshua said to them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18 So for this reason the Judean leaders kept trying even harder to kill Him—because He was not only breaking Shabbat, but also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Philip was struggling with this when Yeshua answered him too. John14:7 If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Master, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” (dayenu) 9a Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you haven’t come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
It should not be a surprise these quotes are coming to us out of the book of John. John is the one non-synoptic gospel and the most Jewish oriented of the gospels.
My rabbi used to say, “God has no relatives.” The Bible (both Old and New Testaments) seems to differ. Yeshua is the Son of God, and He alone is God. (Psalm 2:12 and Psalm 22 – John 20:31 and Acts 10:36)